Jon Lester is not yet ready to make his decision as several teams are still reportedly making strong pushes to acquire the free-agent pitcher this offseason.

ESPN reported that Lester received lucrative offers from the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants. These three teams are believed to be the finalist in the race to sign Lester, but another team has reportedly joined the bidding war.

According to Alex Speier and Rob Bradford of WEEI, the Los Angeles Dodgers also expressed serious interest in adding Lester to their already-formidable rotation. The Dodgers are reportedly optimistic that they could outbid other teams despite making a late offer, similar to the way the New York Yankees managed to steal Mark Teixeira from aggressive bidders in 2008.

"One industry source was under the impression that the Dodgers had already entered the bidding with an offer to Lester, while another characterized the Dodgers as poised to play a role similar to the one made by the Yankees in December 2008, when New York swooped in late to sign Mark Teixeira away from other interested bidders with a high bid of eight years and $180 million," Speier and Bradford wrote.

The Red Sox were previously mentioned as the favorite to land Lester because the veteran pitcher wants to reunite with his former team, who traded him to the Oakland Athletics before last season's trade deadline.

Red Sox veteran David Ortiz revealed that he recently talked to his former teammate but is unsure about Lester's plan this offseason. Ortiz said that the Red Sox should intensify their pursuit, pointing out that they need a player like Lester who is expected to give his best for Boston fans.

"If I'm the Red Sox, I would do whatever it takes to keep a guy like that. That's a guy, he brings everything every day to the field," Ortiz said in a Boston Globe interview. "He cared about that city. He was devastated when he got traded. I know that. I can personally tell you that. But this is business. I know he understands that. Now is the time for us to step up, man up, and make the guy happy."

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